13 



diameter of trunk at the ground. The crop we regarded 

 as too heavy for the future welfare of the trees, and we 

 suggested the thinnhig of the fruit ; but the owner said 

 the low price of fruit would not justify the expense. We 

 shall speak of prices hereafter. Doyenne d'Etc and 

 Madeleine pears were being picked, and compared favora- 

 bly with those grown at the East ; all other varieties 

 seemed to do well ; many were" already, though not half 

 grown, highly colored. The apple orchard was less 

 promising than the pear, we thought, owing to the 

 ground being too wet at a certain period of the year. 

 New^town Pippin was said to be the most protital)le, and 

 next to that, Smith'^s Cider, White Pearmain, and Wine 

 Sop. 



The strawberry here, when irrigated, bears the whole 

 year; but the principal crops commence in April, and 

 continue into Sei^tember. The strawberries are "'rown in 

 rows three and a half feet apart by one and a half feet in 

 the row, and kept in hills. The' plants were six years old, 

 the hills fully eighteen inches across, and were bearing 

 ripe and green fruit and blossoms at the same time. 



This gentleman has three artesian wells on his prem- 

 ises, varying in depth from 320 to 340 feet, giving a con- 

 stant flow of water during the dry season. The straw- 

 berries are irrigated by carr3'ing the water along the head- 

 lands in wooden flmnes about eighteen inches square ; 

 stoppers are inserted opposite the .spaces between the 

 rows, and then the Avater is distributed and shut off at 

 pleasure. The proprietor informed us that he had on his 

 grounds a mile and a half of these flumes. The Long- 

 worth's Prolific strawberry here and elsewhere yielded 

 more profit, and constituted the bulk of this fruit at the 

 market stalls and in the shops. The later cherries were 

 in perfection, and ft)r size and beaut}^ surpassed any we 

 have ever beheld in any country. The Black Tartarian 

 and Napoleon Bigarreau, sold under the name of Royal 

 Ann, are much cultivated. 



On the 28th of June we visited the plantation of an- 



